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Meet William Kenney

January 24, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

Today’s featured debut author is William Kenney, whose dark epic fantasy made its debut last summer. I agree with William when he says that one of the most challenging aspects of writing a book is “keeping my facts straight.” In fact, next week’s writing tip will offer helpful ways for you to do just that.

Name: William Kenney

Name of book: A Dream of Storms (Book One of the In the Shadow of the Black Sun series)

Book genre: Dark Epic Fantasy

Date published: July 2011

Publisher: Self-Published

What is your day job? I was actually laid off from my day job in November.

What is your book about? The leaves were falling in Elfwhere, but autumn had never come to the land of the Elves. It was a sign. The dark one, Mournenhile, had returned, reborn into the world of Kirkaldin. He was thought destroyed twelve years ago during the Battle of the Black Sun.

Hagan Marindel had emerged from that battle a hero. The world sang his praises and showered him with gifts. He had rejected it all, instead returning home and going into a drunken seclusion. He had become a hollow, wretched shell of his former self. Until now. The Stone Troll, Gorin, carried out an impossible quest, to retrieve Hagan and return him to Harquinn, where the mages rule. Hagan had sworn an oath, all those years ago, and Gorin would hold him to it. Can Hagan become that hero once more, redeeming himself and protecting the land from the coming horde?

Why did you want to write this book? I’ve always loved the fantasy genre, since I was a child. I started putting together my own stories when I was around 13 years old, so I suppose I have always had an interest in storytelling. This particular book is my homage to Tolkien, who started the fire, but it’s definitely not a Lord of the Rings clone.

What would you say is the most challenging part of writing a book? For me, working on a series, the hardest part is keeping my facts straight. I don’t want to end up contradicting myself or getting a date or character’s name wrong. It’s also a challenge to finally step back and say, “OK, it’s done.” I suppose with ebooks that’s not as big a deal, since the writer can upload new versions at any point.

Did you conduct any kind of research in order to write this book (visit certain locales, etc.)? The story takes place in a fantasy setting, so it didn’t require much research. Some of the characters’ personalities are based on people I know, so I suppose I researched them.

What motivates you to write? I love to tell stories and I love to hear the reader’s reactions to things that I have written. If I can produce an emotional response from the reader – be it fear, happiness, excitement, sadness – it’s a great feeling.

Did you experience writer’s block? I usually don’t have this issue. Before I begin, I always have a loose outline. It’s pretty easy for me to connect Point A to Point B and so on. Sometimes I will struggle with how to word something to get the exact point across.

How long did it take you to write this book? About 12 months, I think.

Why did you decide to self-publish? It’s become so easy now, and the author has 100 percent control over the finished product, the contents, cover art, price, etc.

Was the self-publishing process easier or more difficult than you thought it would be? The only thing that I had an issue with early on was formatting the book to each eReader’s specifics. Once I had that figured out, it was no problem.

What is the biggest misconception about writing a book? “Wow, you must be making a ton of money!” “When’s the movie coming out?” “Oh, I could write a book, too!” That last one is possible, but the first two are highly unlikely.

What was your favorite aspect of the writing process for this book? The characters and their interactions. I also love worldbuilding, creating the cultures and backgrounds of the characters that inhabit the story. When the original outline really takes shape and you realize that the story works, that’s a great feeling.

What tools/methods have you employed to promote your book? Promoting is not easy. All of the social media sites are great tools, but they are no guarantee. Plus, you don’t want to overdo it. Will people continue to follow you on Twitter, for example, if all they see are the same “buy my book” tweets? Doing interviews on cool sites like this could help. I can also be found on Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and many other sites.

How has life changed for you since the publication of your book? I think that when you first publish a book, you are very uncertain as to the public’s reaction to it. Is my writing horrible? Have I told a story that’s interesting to someone out there? Getting great reviews and feedback from people has boosted my confidence and reassured me that I can write a good, entertaining story. Many people have asked for the next book in the series (which I am working on, I promise).

Do you find yourself obsessively checking sales stats? Yes, and I really need to cut that out.

What’s your second book titled? I am currently working on Shards of S’Darin, Book Two of the In the Shadow of the Black Sun series.

My favorite last question: Oprah once famously said that there is no such thing as luck, without preparation and a moment of opportunity. Would you agree or disagree with regard to your own success as a writer? Couldn’t that “moment of opportunity” be considered luck sometimes? I’m sitting at a table in Starbucks, going over my latest novel, with papers spread out in front of me. A big-shot literary agent walks by, sees what I’m doing and says, “You a writer?” Seems like luck AND opportunity. Anyway, I don’t think one can expect to be successful at anything without preparation. You have to develop the skills first, right? If that moment of opportunity arises and you are not prepared to meet it, say goodbye to success.

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‘Feeling’ Real

January 23, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

Last night, I was reading Rob Brunner’s review of The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson in Entertainment Weekly while watching the big football game (yay, Giants!) and came across this line:

Johnson has created such a convincing universe [North Korea] that it doesn’t really matter if he’s accurately captured every detail. It FEELS real, often terrifyingly so.

I thought to myself: That’s gotta be one of the best compliments a writer can get. What’s interesting, too, about Johnson is that he apparently put a lot of effort into researching North Korea and North Korean life, even traveling there in 2007. I thought of my own traveling to upstate New York in May 2010 in order to write Baby Grand to get a better feel for what I was talking about. I remember a colleague saying, “What does it matter? This is fiction, right?”

True. But I guess I’m the kind of writer who likes to see how things really are in order to imagine how they can also be — a mix of fact and fiction, which is how it appears Johnson has also crafted his book.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, an author-friend of mine Jeb Ladouceur doesn’t like to visit any city or location that he writes about. He feels it stifles, rather than enhances, his creativity.

Every writer has a different process, but in the end as long as we can all make it “feel real,” as Brunner says, we can all be successful.

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Writing Tip #67

January 22, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

Keep a text file open while you write that contains all the grammar rules you tend to forget. Last week, we featured the grammatical rule that you should always refer to people as “who” or “whom” in a sentence, such as “The writer who penned that book is…” But if you’re the type who thinks, “Oh, I’m never going to remember that rule!” or the rule about the “i” going before “e” except after “c” or the one that says pronouns need to agree both in number and person with the nouns they modify, a good idea might be to keep a text file open of all those rules you tend to forget. This way, you can have a quick reference point without having to surf the internet for the answers. Your own personal cheat sheet, so to speak.

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‘Yes, It Is a Long Process’

January 19, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

Ah, waiting.

My agent checked in with me yesterday. I love getting an email from her. Even when there’s no news. Her name appears in my inbox, and I feel my entire body lift in excitement and anticipation, as in Can this be the email? Should I start preparing my Oscar-acceptance speech for the screenplay I adapted from my bestselling novel?

Alas, it was not. Just a status check. The Baby Grand manuscript continues to be sent out. Editors are still reading.

“Yes, it is a long process,” she wrote.

That’s okay. I can wait. In the meantime, I keep busy. Writing. Editing. Reading. And even cooking, now and again, to the utter delight of my kids.

Truth be told: Sometimes it’s hard to wait, particularly in a world when everything is done so quickly. But as I told my 14-year-old son the other day: Good things come to those who wait.

Of course, he responded: “Wait? I’m not going to spend my life waiting. I’m taking control of my life.”

Someday he’ll learn that sometimes taking control of your life means waiting. If that’s what you really want. :)

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Meet Beatrice Williams-Rude

January 17, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

I had the pleasure of working with Bea at Fairchild Publications in the 1990s and was lucky to have her astute eyes read over my feverishly written and rushed-to-the-copydesk-at-the-very-last-moment articles. I’d always known that Bea had led a fascinating life, so I was so happy to hear she had finally written her memoir.

Name: Beatrice Williams-Rude

Name of book: Misadventures of a Would-Be Muse

Book genre: (mirthful) memoir – selected escapades, vignettes, with an overarching theme of going from being “the droop of the third grade” to self acceptance

Date published: The official launch date was Nov. 8, 2011, but Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and certain book shops in Britain had it several weeks earlier.

Publisher: Xlibris. However, publication came about thanks to a legacy from my longtime theater agent, Don Taft, with whom I never lost touch even after he relocated to Florida. Unbeknownst to me (I thought he was living just above the poverty line) he’d become a multi-millionaire philanthropist. He’d been my weekly dinner guest for years. I went through the “Around the World” cookbook with Don there for the tour. Fittingly, he’d made his fortune in food. (The first part of this, Don as dinner guest, is in the book. Fortunately the lawyer for his estate and the head of his foundation were pleased with my treatment of Don in the book and so publication came to pass.)

What is your day job? I review theater offerings, opera, books and do any freelance editing or writing work that comes my way.

What is your book about? My peripatetic and picaresque path to self acceptance. My “misadventures.” The famous and infamous people whose paths I crossed. There are 41 pages of photographs including production shots (Compulsion; Goat Song with Martin Landau; Show Boat; Pajama Game; What Makes Sammy Run? with John Forsythe, Larry Blyden, Dina Merrill and Barbara Rush; Dillinger with Ralph Meeker, etc.) and pix with Mike Wallace, Jackie Gleason, Ingrid Bergman, Perry Como, etc.

Why did you want to write this book? I set out to write historical fiction. I’ve long been enamored of the Quatro Cento Medici, the “golden” Medici, and wanted to write something in which they provided the historical background. Then I learned about my (new) husband’s fascinating and historically significant Anglo-Irish family: The earls of Strafford, primarily Sir Thomas Wentworth, and the earls of Roscommon, primarily the poet and playwright Sir Wentworth Dillon. However, I couldn’t find a historical-fiction class.

There were memoir classes galore and one in particular, given by MediaBistro, had appeal. I remembered a book that playwright Dale Wasserman had given to me years ago: Hadrian’s Memoirs, which was historical fiction structured as a memoir, as, similarly, was I, Claudius.  So I enrolled. Lizzie Simon conducted the class.

My intention was not to write an autobiography, but rather to spell out the convergence of my path and Dale Wasserman’s. I’d known him virtually since I stepped off the train from Philadelphia, before he wrote the stage version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and long before he wrote Man of La Mancha, which was first a prize-winning TV play, I, Don Quixote. (There are nine boxes of his scripts, largely TV, at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts.) The work I envisioned had Dale Wasserman at the center.

However, feedback from the other writers in the group led me to change my focus. What resulted was Misadventures of a Would-Be Muse, an account of my own (mis)adventures.

What would you say was the most challenging part of writing this book? Being honest without hurting people, being revealing without embarrassing those close to me. Initially Alan was askance, even though he’d already known the who, when and where.

How long did it take you to write this book? Several months

Oprah once famously said that there is no such thing as luck, without preparation and a moment of opportunity. Would you agree or disagree with regard to your own success as a writer? Define success. That questioned, I’d agree with Oprah – but my mother said it first.

Posted in Debut Author Q&A | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Writing Tip #66

January 16, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

Never use “that” when referring to a person. This is a common mistake — one that I often find in my own writing during the editing stage. For example:

(wrong) The first person that walked on the moon was Neil Armstrong.
(correct) The first person who walked on the moon was Neil Armstrong.

(wrong) The teacher that she was referring to was Ms. Santorelli.
(correct) The teacher to whom she was referring was Ms. Santorelli.

People: who/whom. Non-people: that/which. Got it?

Okay, quick quiz. Which one is correct? Hmmm…

1. The student was indebted to the weekly writing tips from the author who helped improve her writing.
2. The student was indebted to the weekly writing tips from the author which helped improve her writing.

(Careful, this may be a trick question!)

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Meet Author Jeff Cannon

January 10, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

Okay, technically, Simple Truth: Meditation for the Modern World is not Jeff Cannon’s first book. But after surviving some very serious health issues, Jeff changed his life and wrote this book, which, in many ways, represents a new beginning for the author who has eschewed the advertising world in an effort to teach meditation and mindfulness and to help others find the balance in their lives.

Name: Jeff Cannon
Name of book: Simple Truth: Meditation for the Modern World
Book genre: Self-help/self-improvement
Date published: November 1, 2011
Publisher: Walton Press

What is your day job? I used to run advertising agencies. But that has changed since my book and my experience. Now I am in corporate training, specifically teaching meditation to executives and corporate teams. I also work as a guest instructor at various yoga studios as well as host my own workshops at the New York Open Center.

What is your book about? My book combines the latest findings from Western science with the time-honored practices of Meditation and Mindfulness. It provides readers with a simple way to incorporate meditation into their everyday lives so that they can gain control over their lives, minimize the stress in their lives and find the balance we are all seeking without having to give up everything they have worked so hard to attain.

Why did you want to write this book? At the end of 2009, my life was a wreck. The economy had gutted my business. My father had passed away from a long fight with cancer, and I found out that I had seven brain tumors. I had 30 days to decide what to do. After closing my business and writing a line through my life, I underwent a 10-plus hour brain surgery that removed six of the seven tumors. During my recovery I wanted to research why these tumors occurred and how I could stop them. I started to research how the brain functioned, especially with the new insights into neuroelasticity and the physical effects that meditation had on the brain. I learned that it was possible to rewire the brain in a way, and the answer lay in meditation. I still have a seventh tumor in my head, but it stopped growing once I changed my life around.

I wanted to take meditation away from the religious connotations that has long been associated with it, to provide people with an easy to understand, well documented and easy to implement approach to meditation that truly was for the modern world. From the responses I have been getting, I think I have succeeded.

What would you say is the most challenging part of writing a book? The most challenging element to writing The Simple Truth was my own self discovery along the way. Throughout the book, I had revelations as to why I was the way I was, why I had overlooked some opportunities in favor of others. You could say I discovered my own Simple Truth along the way. And that is not always an easy thing to do. But in the end it has been the most freeing thing I have ever done.

Tell me about the research you conducted in order to write this book? I have long been a follower of the martial arts, yoga and meditation. I have also been an amateur scientist my entire life. In writing The Simple Truth, the real research was not in finding out what meditation was, but in catching up to the new findings that have come out of hospitals and universities like MIT, Stamford, Harvard and UCLA, to name a few. These places of learning have made great strides in finding out how the brain works, and how it is possible to rewire the brain so that you can truly take greater control over your life. This is what the majority of my book is about – recognizing that much of what we do is based on our original programming that was locked into place 40,000 years ago. We are basically living in a 21st Century world with a Neolithic body. And that is what is causing most of our issues, our stress and our anxiety.

What motivates you to write? For me, writing is a way to explore ideas, to work through concepts. It is an exercise in discovery. The book I start to write is rarely the book I end up with. But I am always happy with the finished product, because it is very much a part of me.

Did you experience writer’s block? I do experience writer’s block. Coincidentally, I often take a meditation break to clear my head, to recharge my brain, and to start the writing process anew.

How long did it take you to write this book? It took me one year to write the book – much of it during the later part of my recovery. Then it took another year to edit it to its final place. Some of that time was reediting my findings to keep up with the pace of neuroscience. But what is there is a very concise roadmap to finding and living by one’s own Simple Truth.

How did you go about finding a publisher? Why did you decide on Walton Press? I had published previously with McGraw-Hill – most notably with Leadership Lessons of the Navy SEALs [2003]. However, they only do business books now. So I pitched to a number of publishers. Walton seemed to understand the material the best and was willing to walk the line between spiritual and scientific – something not a lot of publishers were willing to do.

What would you say is the biggest misconception about writing a book? I think most people think that writing a book is a static process of following one train of thought. But it morphs. The story changes, the facts change, the characters change, the world changes as you are writing. The book is a reflection of the world around you, so it has to change as you do if it is to be relevant.

What was your favorite aspect of the writing process for this book? I am an amateur scientist. I also have a side of me that is very spiritual. This book allowed me to delve into both aspects of the human condition. I was able to speak with anthropologists, monks, health professionals, brain surgeons and yogis to bring together their different thoughts on a wide range of issues from meditation to evolutionary biology.

What tools/methods have you employed to promote your book? I have done a lot of outreach with social media tools. I have also reached out to yoga studios, blogs and yoga-related media. I have also started teaching meditation in several studios as well as workshops in NYC – all of which have helped to spread the word to my key audience.

What advice would you give to writers regarding promotion? Immerse yourself in the world you are writing about. Use digital media by writing articles, talking to people who are concerned with your subject matter. Start with those who you think will be interested in the subject of your writing and expand from there. Most importantly, don’t panic. Don’t let time dictate what you do. Instead stay consistent to your topic and keep your focus.

How has life changed for you since the publication of your book? It has put me in a very unique position. The book has been the stepping stone to changing my entire life. I have since left the corporate world and now teach meditation to others. I have started workshops and have been a guest teacher at places like OM Yoga. It really has giving me the opportunity to change my life and start living by my own Simple Truth.

Do you find yourself obsessively checking sales stats? Oh yes. Maybe not obsessively, but I want to see which of my efforts is having an effect. I’m curious to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s all a great experiment, and things like sales stats are the findings.

Is there a second book in the works? I am actually starting on a second book that deals with the Simple Truth for the business world – basically a guide to create companies based on cooperation rather than competition, geared for a Triple Bottom Line [people, planet, profits] and not just for profits.

My favorite last question: Oprah once famously said that there is no such thing as luck, without preparation and a moment of opportunity. Would you agree or disagree with regard to your own success as a writer? I would agree. There is a bit of luck in everything we do. However, if you are unprepared when luck comes around, well, then it’s as if it never happened. Actors get their “lucky break” only after working at it for ten, fifteen years. So, yes, it is about preparation, about being aware enough to recognize the opportunity, and most important about being experienced enough to realize when to jump on an opportunity, or when to let it go by.

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Writing Tip #65

January 8, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

Bare your soul. This tip coincides with today’s commemoration of the annual No Pants Subway Ride — an event in which straphangers nonchalantly strip down to their underwear from the waist down as part of a global practical joke. However, in lieu of riding the subway in your favorite polka-dot boxers, bare your soul in your work instead (or, if you feel so inclined, you can do both). Have your characters reveal truths, innermost thoughts, secrets, the things that the editor in you says, “Oh, no, I can’t write that!” Go ahead: Write it. Rant. Rave. Whisper. Tattle. Accuse. Brag. Confess. These are the kinds of things that make characters relatable, empathic, real. Trust me, if you’re feeling the urge to write it, there’s someone out there who wants — and needs — to read it.

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Attention, Self-Publishers: Edit, Edit, Edit!

January 4, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

A quick word to my self-published author-friends. Please know that I totally love and respect what you’re doing. So many people think self-publishing a book is easy, but the truth is you are totally on your own out there when it comes to marketing and selling your book. You are joining blog tours, doing interviews and networking, networking, networking. You are all amazingly brave and entrepreneurial. As I wrote in a recent blog post, if my traditional-publishing travels for Baby Grand do not turn out the way I would like, I would indeed consider self-publishing and make a go of it on my own.

But, please, I beg of you, have your book professionally edited (or at least read by grammarphile friends) before you self-publish. A friend of mine recently self-published a novel, and eager as I was to see a “sneak peek” of the book on Amazon, I immediately became disillusioned when right there in the second sentence was a grammatical error.

Ugh.

I know that might not be a big deal for some — hey, Amanda Hocking has sold millions of books that she herself says could have been better edited — but for me it’s a huge turnoff. Do traditionally published books have typos and grammatical errors? Yes, but they’re usually few and far between. Recently, my 14-year-old son had to put a self-published book down because there were “just too many” spelling mistakes. That’s a shame.

Yes, it’s the book’s story that is most important, but the way the story is told is pretty darn important too. And as more and more people self-publish, you want your book to rise above the masses, and one surefire way to do that is to be sure that your spelling and grammar are as close to perfect as possible.

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Meet Jennifer Cusumano

January 3, 2012 by Dina Santorelli

Today’s featured debut author (our first of the new year!) is Jennifer Cusumano, a freelancer, consultant and professor whose book Angels Around Her was published in September 2011. Welcome, Jennifer!

Name: Jennifer Cusumano
Name of book: Angels Around Her
Book genre: Romance/spiritual
Date published: September 2011
Publisher: Inkwater Press
What is your day job? I teach communications and media at several Long Island colleges as an adjunct, and I continue to consult with corporations and write freelance.
What is your book about? I think it is a book about our understanding of love as we age and the decisions we make. Of course, time and experience are great teachers. Sometimes, however, by the time we learn the lessons and come to understand ourselves better, we are either too comfortable or too afraid, or simply just not in a position to make a really big change. This book lets that happen for our heroine in a very magical, supernatural way.
Why did you want to write this book? My sister and I had this idea over 12 to 13 years ago. We wanted to write a book for people who could identify with the theme of creating a more authentic life for yourself, whether that be finding the right partner, or a new career, or children. After we wrote it, it sat in the closet for over ten years. Then, in the wake of all the upheaval of the last few years, the economic crisis, war, negative media… I just felt the time was right to get a happy, hopeful message out there.
What would you say is the most challenging part of writing a book? Working out the story and how the characters’ actions all affect the progression of the plot. We actually had several outlines and datelines we had to follow because the book keeps transitioning from the present to the past; it spans 25 years, so there was a lot of back story to tell.
Did you conduct any kind of research in order to write this book? We already had some knowledge about our Long Island, Manhattan and Paris settings, but we had to research so much more as landscapes and venues change so much over time. Actually, the research was some of the most fun we had with the book.
What motivates you to write? I’m a sporadic writer. I wish I could say I was one of those people who writes all the time, but I’m not. I really feel like I have to have something meaningful to say. Because I write for a living, by assignment, I’m often writing for other people or for academic pursuits. It’s rare that I get the time to just write for myself. I have to get better at making the time to do that. If it were not for my sister’s idea and nudging me to do this initially, I probably would not have written this book. Even then, it sat for 10 years after I finished it. Then, a couple of years ago, I decided to dust it off, reinvent it, re-edit it, and really aggressively started to market it. I’ve had so much positive feedback from people, I’m glad I did it.
Did you experience writer’s block? Well, it took three years to write, part-time, because I was working full-time. And then another two years recently to re-write and edit it. So I didn’t experience writer’s block so much as writer’s interference! Life just gets in the way sometimes, but it gave me the time to re-examine the story and the dialogue.
How did you go about finding a publisher? Why did you decide on Inkwater Press? After some initial rejections from traditional publishers, I went to BEA. I thought I’d find an agent or publisher, but instead what I found were all these indie authors who inspired me to either self-publish or look into author subsidized publications. I didn’t want a vanity press who would publish anything for money. Inkwater struck just the right chord with me. They publish beautiful books. They only take on a few projects a year so they really have to believe the book is of some quality and will sell. They offered me a fair contract and I chose to work with them.
What would you say is the biggest misconception about writing a book? Hmm… I think there are probably many, but I would have to say that it will be a profitable venture. Just because you write a book, doesn’t mean it will be well received or profitable. I didn’t go into this with that intention. In fact, I assumed it would not make money. If it does, that will be a pleasant surprise!
What was your favorite aspect of the writing process for this book? Writing for a variety of voices. Getting into the minds of each character and then trying to get the vernacular right for each character… that was a lot of fun. I hope I did a good job of that.
What tools/methods have you employed to promote your book? What advice would you give to writers regarding promotion? I do a lot of in-person appearances at book clubs and local shows, fairs. I also have some retail book sellers carrying the book. But I would have to say social media, by far, is the biggest and most important tool today. It’s very, very time consuming, and there’s a lot of strategizing I still have to learn. If you can afford it, hire a social media expert in PR and promotion.
How has life changed for you since the publication of your book? It hasn’t; it’s just busier because now I have to spend every free minute that I’m not teaching or freelancing promoting the book, or going to events, or researching new venues to sell the book. Phew! I’m exhausted!
Do you find yourself obsessively checking sales stats? Never.
Is there a second book in the works? There may be. I’m actually working on a movie script I’ve had on the backburner for a while and would like to give that some attention. But I did create a blog associated with the book where I have posed a question associated with the main theme of the book. I was hoping to collect people’s stories, if they wanted to share them, but so far, I think people have been reluctant to post a story. I thought the material might spur a second book, but we’ll see…
My favorite last question: Oprah once famously said that there is no such thing as luck, without preparation and a moment of opportunity. Would you agree or disagree with regard to your own success as a writer? Well, I agree with Oprah’s statement, but I can’t say I’ve experienced much success yet as a writer yet! The book’s only been out since September. When I hit the 5,000 sales mark, or a big agent wants me or I get a movie deal… then maybe I can speak to the notion of success as a writer. But, seriously, it depends how you define success. Am I successful if my work is published, but isn’t selling? What if it sells like blazes, but the work itself is trash? Are those writers “successful” or just savvy marketers? I think society mostly defines success in terms of financial success, but I would consider myself successful as a writer if my book touched some people, covered my initial investment, and maybe generated at least some income so I could embark on another project.

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